I heard that passion is an emotion. Therefore, to say to a person, ‘find your passion’, is simply to tell them that one should pursue an emotion and not a purpose. Passion, like any other emotion, can be changed or altered in many ways. Today one can be passionate about this and the next day about something totally different. Therefore, what is then the driving force that is needed to drive us forward in finding the purpose in which we have been set on this world for?
Lately one had been thinking of the great revolutionaries that came before our time. The late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela made one think about what a person’s purpose in the world is. You see, the media and the evils of Apartheid painted our Mother of the Nation so disrespectfully that the common man would not have been able to see just how instrumental she really was in the freedom we enjoy today. I will not venture deeper into her contributions as I am not qualified or well versed enough to propose such a debate or discussion. What stuck out is that, as the saying goes that legends are born after they die. So, at this moment, the great legacy that is the Mother of the Nation is now fully appreciated. It is at this moment one can see just how powerful a woman she was.
It struck me. As a citizen of South Africa, what and how am I giving back to the community? How am I as a young Black South African paying homage to the Winnies, Mandelas and Steve Bikos who literally sacrificed their lives so that I, a Black youth, can partake in the same platform as other races in South Africa? There are deep discussions that suggest that the freedom of 94 is truly an illusion. That the ANC settled for the short end of the stick. But when one analyses it, as short as the stick was, it enabled us to see the rise of very vocal and influential leaders as Malema to take a stand and speak boldly his ideologies that if they were said in those evil years before us, he would be in hiding constantly. This freedom, whether true or an illusion, enabled leaders like Thabo Mbeki to freely spark the culture of being a thinker as a black person and not be afraid to share your ideas. That with these ideas, discussions and dialogues can be formed and discussed. This freedom that our leaders fought for, gave us a voice that we can use freely. Question is, are we using it?
Even though this freedom gave us a greater and a more privilege platform than before, the voice we hear lately is being indirectly suffocated strategically and wisely. The media giving more glory to artists who sell their dignity for the fame and fortune. Leaders that are mighty enough to inspire and lead the new youth are being swallowed by the shine of superstardom that comes in the form of the rapper who wears and drinks endorsed products. Even though one would say that for that artist to be in that position, it came by the opportunities now available that were once not available. It is true that this is inspiring and gives hope to the young child who escapes reality through music and art. But it seems that society is breeding more rappers, models, socialites and media personalities than philosophers and thinkers.
In trying to find the light that gives one significance, give one hope to discover their purpose, the world’s glamour of the fast life is more tempting and appealing. Social media filled with girls who enjoy getting a hundred and more likes for posting a picture of themselves with the caption ‘woke up like this’ yet face heavy laden with makeup. In a country where poverty affects one in every second South African, the lies that are perpetuated in social media has to make us sit and analyse what is being taught in our society. These lies are scarring the sacrifices of those who died so that we can enjoy the pleasure of going to town without the fear of being attacked by white teenage boys. In seeking to understand what is that we are here to do as a people, it is imperative we take a moment and begin to deconstruct the devices and technologies that are actually taking us backward.
In finding the light that gives us life, it is very important we can see the objects that lurk in the shadows that are ready to dim and douse our light. These objects come in many forms that we sheepishly fail to question. If we, as the modern generation, where to be placed in a time portal to the days of heavy oppression, many of us would not survive. Yes, this is not possible but it’s worth thinking about. The freedom that saw Black people lose many friends, and families lose breadwinners, are we as the new generation of born free taking it for granted? Is this new light an illusion that is taking us away from the true nature of the world we live in? Is this freedom a drug that’s keeping us hallucinated and oblivious from the truth that the struggle has changed? It’s interesting to find out that the Apartheid regime close to the end changed their tactic to that of the mind. That system was the most perfectly constructed system to suppress people and limit their freedoms. Is it then possible that in the latter years when the National Party saw their end, they devised new plans to suppress us born frees? That the legacy of their evils ways will continue to live even when they out of power? The most obvious indication of this is the geographic mapping of South Africa and its effect is seen. Communicate with most Black people from townships, even ones my age and younger, they will tell you myths such as white people do things better. Because geographically white people live in way better conditions. The systematic programming of Apartheid should never be underestimated and the fact we are here where we are as Black people, it has lead us to comfort in thinking the struggle is over.
It leads me back to asking what is this freedom that the freedom fighters fought and died for? Or more precisely, the foundations they laid, what are we as the new generation doing about it? It seems we have been freed from the chains but we still in the dungeon. It seems that the freedom we happily living in is in actuality the new oppression that we the new black South Africans have to stand up and fight for. It is the same way that Steve Biko and those earlier freedom fighters were able to see through the laws of Apartheid that were designed to give us ‘freedom to rule’ within our homelands but the reality being those laws were only pushing the agenda of Apartheid forward. It feels that the cage is still around us Black people even in this day. It comes in the form of comfort in living in a flat with your own car with the aspirations that one day your career will buy you a house in a middle-class neighbourhood where you will grow old without amounting to much. For our parents who were in those extreme conditions, this for them was the highest they could amount to.
This shouldn’t be for the case for us the new generation. It is good we have the artists who are achieving incredible accomplishments and accolades. It is good that we find women being able to climb up corporate ladders which were designed for males. But the fact remains that we should not be deceived by this new freedom. We still need the thinkers and new minds to continue pushing the African Renaissance agenda. We still need the modern-day Steve Bikos who will remind us to take pride in our black culture and promote our culture before we partake in the cultures of others. In this world where Western cultures dominate every facet of life, as Black people we need to be very cognisant that our blackness doesn’t wither away. And for our Blackness to continue having relevance and significance in the modern world, we need modern day thinkers who will continue from where the Nelson Mandelas and the Mme Winnies left off.